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n Colin Edwards is to stay at the
satellite Tech 3 Yamaha team next
year, according to Speedweek
reports. His team-mate remains
uncertain, with the spot being
kept open for Ben Spies, should
he win the Superbike title. Should
that happen, it would be an all-
Texan rider team.
n After impressive rides at Indy
and Misano on Kallio's vacant
Pramac Ducati, previously jobless
GP racer Aleix Espargaro may
be retained in the team after
Stoner comes back in place of
disappointing rookie Niccolò
Canepa. More good news for the
family, after younger brother Pol
took his first 125 win at Indy, and
nearly another at Misano.
n No mountain high enough
for some riders, but Europe's
highest peak, the 4,810-metre
Mont Blanc, will have to suffice
for Pedrosa and Barbera. The pair
has joined climber Jesus Calleja
and Dakar motorcycle winner
Marc Coma in a challenge from
the mountaineer, according to
Spanish website Motocuatro.
After days spent acclimatising at
Chamonix, the final assault was
put forward to today, Monday
September 14, because of
looming bad weather. Mont Blanc
is a relatively easy but long and
plodding climb.
n Compared by some to
compatriot former 250 champion
Olivier Jacque, French privateer
250 rider Jules Cluzel is in a tug
of love for his services in 2010.
Tech 3 Yamaha team principal
Hervé Poncharal announced he
has signed Cluzel for Moto2 next
year, but the rider responded that
he intended to honour his option
with the Matteoni team, should
they choose to exercise it. Cluzel
was a lucky second at Qatar, but
has frequently impressed since on
a very average private Aprilia.
n Rossi keeps on piling up the
statistics. His win at Misano was
his 19th in the 800cc class, putting
him one ahead of Casey Stoner.
VALENTINO Rossi's name
is again in the financial
as well as the sporting
sections of the Italian
papers, with a firm of
accountants threatening
legal action to recover
more than two million
Euros of allegedly unpaid
commission.
This is a follow-on from
a major scandal of unpaid
taxes in 2007, as part of the
fee claimed by the firm of
accountants who handled
the situation for Rossi.
The affair began mid-2007
with a widely publicised
claim for more than 100-
million Euros in back
taxes from the Italian tax
authorities, on the grounds
that Rossi had been living in
Italy rather than in London,
while claiming non-resident
status.
In the fall-out, Rossi
sacked his career-long
manager Gibo Badioli;
while a settlement was
negotiated for a payment
thought to be around 30
million Euros.
The accountancy firm
Cesaroni-Cappellini
claims that it is owed a
percentage of 170-million
Euro savings that they
were able to achieve in
these negotiations. At a 1.5-
percent rate, this would
mean almost 2.5-million
Euros.
Italian reports from the
agency and on GPOne.com
quoted Massimiliano Tasini
of the firm:
"We are very disappointed.
From February 2008.
when the tax dispute
was resolved positively
for Valentino Rossi, we
have kept a low profile to
avoid harming the image
of the champion." Now
the company is to issue
a statement detailing
their case today (Monday,
September 14). If the suit
is successful, Rossi would
then have 40 days to appeal.
During an interview with
this reporter at Misano,
a slip of the tongue by
Rossi suggested the
affair may already be on
his mind. Talking about
race concentration, he
described how you had to
clear your mind, "because
you have a lot of problem
always. You have the tax ..."
then he paused, laughed,
and corrected himself. "Not
the tax ... but when you
park the car in the wrong
place, or your mother
wants you to fix some
problem in the house ... all
these things around, you
have to make a strategy to
forget when you are on the
bike."
Rossi also spoke with
respect of his new financial
adviser. It will be interesting
to see if the Rossi camp
issues a rebuff to the claim.
Rossi in the
nancial
soup again
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